But WHY Did This Happen??

I am almost recovered from my wisdom tooth surgery. I spent most of the time sleeping and today I went to check on my Netflix statistics and I watched somewhere along the lines of 19 episodes of Law & Order, both SVU and Criminal Intent, 8 episodes of Weeds and 21 episodes of The Office. But I promise this is not actually true as I kept the player going even when I was asleep. I promise.

Anyway, the teeth are healing nicely, I suppose since it's kind of hard to look down there. I did have one massive blood clot form that I was sure was going to destroy the rest of my teeth. But it, and all of its disgusting-ness is starting to go away. I am no longer swollen, but my regular prednisone rotundness is apparent. Stitches come out Saturday and that's that!

oral

Looking back on it, I freaked out more than I really needed to. I have never had a cavity or any other tooth problem in my life. So why did my wisdom teeth cause so many problems? I guess its one of those things, like lupus, that the body does and we can never really figure it out.

Out of Wisdom

So my wisdom tooth extraction went fine, minus one freak out I had when the nitrous oxide mask was knocked off and I was convinced hey were going to snap my jaw in two. Right now I'm not in a lot of pain but I have a ridiculously large blood clot in the space where one of the teeth used to be that won't stop bleeding and swallowing all the blood is making me feel a little sick. But I have stayed in bed for the most part and watched Netflix streaming video more than I care to admit. I love Netflix.

I am scheduled for an MRI on Thursday of my neck. I have a lump there that I previously wrote about being an extra rib. However the doctors want absolute confirmation of that especially since I have been having so much pain in my chest and jaw recently. I'm going to ask to be sedated because I tend to freak out after about 15 minutes in that little tube.

That's all for now. The weather is extremely stormy and I am loving it because I feel no obligation to expose my chipmunk cheeks to the world. I am scheduled to work tomorrow, but I think I will be up to the task.

Medicine, Medicine, Medicine

I got to see another rheumatologist in the clinic today and got a huge overhaul of my current lupus medications. She switched me from Plaquenil to another medicine called chloroquine that hopefully I can tolerate better. She almost bumped me up to 30 mg of prednisone, but we decided to keep it at 25 mg and split it so I am taking 15 mg in the morning and 10 mg in the afternoon. Then we also decided that I should start taking Nexium twice a day instead of once to try to quiet my stomach issues. Also, once my tolerance, or lack of tolerance, for chloroquine has been established, I am to go up to 3000 mg of Cellcept. And we added in Naproxen. That is so much for me to wrap my head around and I really HATE being on all these immunosuppressives. What am I doing to my body? What is my risk of cancer? Infection? So much to think about.

My final paper for my last summer class is due by 8pm tonight and I am almost done with it. I just have to finish the conclusion and then proofread. At least that will be done. Also, my wisdom tooth surgery is scheduled for 3pm tomorrow afternoon. I will leave straight from work and hopefully will be able to change out of my work clothes into something more comfortable and less covered in mayonnaise (ewwww) and tomatoes. The surgery lasts about an hour I hear so hopefully we can be back on the road home by 4:30, pick up my medicine at a pharmacy out there and be home by 7pm. We'll see.

I also have a show to go to for my internship tonight, but since I have to be up at 5:30 am for work, I am only going to stay a couple hours. I really do not want to go as I am exhausted and just want to take a nap. But I said I would be there so I will go.

I will post again after I have this dreaded wisdom tooth surgery. I have had three surgeries on my stomach and the anxiety they produced was much less. I don't know why I am such a wimp about my mouth.

Sun and Prednisone

I spent all day yesterday in the sun without any protection. We had a family cookout and most of it took place in the back yard of my cousin's house which has very few trees. It was a lot of fun, but by the time 11 pm rolled around and we finally left I was totally nauseated and achy. I spent most of the night up with my stomach and joints. If it weren't for my nemesis and savior prednisone, I'd still be in pretty bad shape.

I'm not completely over yesterday. I'm still achy and really, really tired. Being out like that was a doubly bad idea since I have been feeling "off" for almost a week now. I can't pinpoint the problems, but something has been up. Maybe my most recent blood test results will show something.

I am scheduled to have all four of my wisdom teeth out on Friday. They are all pretty impacted so I am not too thrilled about getting them out. I have been putting off this surgery for about 8 years now. The cost will be about $900 dollars and that's more than I can mentally wrap my head around spending to be swollen and in pain. But I was finally convinced I need them done and after rescheduling twice, the time has almost come.

I am a little worried about being on the prednisone now that I have decided to have the teeth pulled. I know prednisone can delay healing and increase risk of infection. Since my doctor is 2+ hours from my house (cheapest I could find), I would really rather not have any complications. I was going to stay at my aunt and uncle's for the weekend, but know that I would much rather be at home. The plan is to fill my pain medicine out there and then come home that night. If any problems occur, then we will just deal with them then.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Dates

So I am having my gall bladder removed on January 11, which is a little later than I hoped. From everything I read it can take about 2 weeks to start to feel normal again, even with a laproscopic approach. Hopefully that will not be the case because I move back to school January 18. I decided to hold off on my wisdom teeth until May 28 because I do not think my body will handle both surgeries in such a small amount of time.

Also having the surgery later means I have more time to worry about it. And of course I am. I have had surgery before, but always because they were looking for something or removing something that was not supposed to be there. Not to remove a whole organ. I handle anesthesia pretty well - I had a small problem with my heart racing too fast and making me feel short of breath the first time - but that went away in a day or two. I never got sick to my stomach and, really, I spent most of the next few days sleeping. Thats not the part that bothers me. It's the part about removing part of my internal plumbing.

But anyway, I have done nothing but relax the past couple days. I am going to roast my very first chicken tonight, so we will see how that goes. I love to cook, and I love chicken. But I have never cooked anything bigger than a cornish hen (my favorite dinner). So this much larger chicken should be intersting. I am making it with thyme and lemon and it will be accompanied with roasted pecan and gralic bulgur and garlic spinach. Should be tasty!

Phew!

So sorry for the lack of posts. I finished my finals on Friday and got back home that night. This is the first time I have turned on my computer since then and I even turned off my phone for a while. I went out socially for the first time tonight for my friend's birthday. So I have really just been trying to get my head screwed back on because I think I lost it for a while toward the end of the semester. :)

I met with the surgeon for my gall bladder today. I will be having the surgery, after much anxiety and whatnot. I HATE the idea. I feel like God put it in me for a reason, how can it be taken out with no ill effect? I thought I was at peace with my decision, but I got into a big argument with my aunt just a few minutes ago that has me second guessing my decision all over again. In fact, I had planned to go to sleep an hour and a half ago, but I took her call and now I'm too wound up and anxious to go to fall asleep.

I do not have a date for the surgery, but the scheduler is trying to work it out so that it is next week or the week after so school will not be an issue.

I also found out that lupus has damaged my kidneys a bit. The radiologist noticed it when I had the ultrasound of my belly for my gall bladder. So that explains why I sometimes spill protein into my urine. From my understanding, it is common in mild lupus kidney disease to have protein be found in your urine and then have it disappear during the next test, even if it is just a couple days later.

I had another round of antibody testing that came out fine, even though my joints have been very painful and I have an amount of fatigue that I feel is unusual. I took a nap today! I never do that. I need to speak to my rheumatologist to ask if the medicine can suppress blood tests even when I feel symptoms. My symptoms are very lupus like with the joint pain, fatigue, sun sensetivity and I also have been running fevers up to 100 every day for a couple of weeks now. But maybe I am stressing myself out. I had finals and the end of the semester and now I have to worry about my gall bladder, wisdom teeth and kidneys.

I plan on getting a lot of rest. I really need it.

Long Weekend!!!

It is Columbus Day on Monday and my school observes it so I get a three day weekend! I'm so happy about this. Another day to relax before the usual craziness of my weekend begins. I have barely done any work so far this weekend. I'm going to get started on some history reading in a few. I HAVE done a lot of visiting with friends and shopping. I have spent way too much money this weekend.

This past week was pure craziness and the upcoming weeks are not that better. This time to relax is great. I was in bed by 11 last night and slept in until 10. Saturday I had to get up early for my wisdom tooth consultation and did not get to bed until around 3 that morning. So sleeping in was wonderful.

My wisdom tooth surgery is not until January 8. I am not being completely knocked out like I wanted. I am just getting a combination on Valium, laughing gas and novocaine. The surgery is on a Friday and is up by where my school is so I will be spending that weekend at my aunt and uncle's house in case there are any problems I do not have to drive 2+ hours back to the surgeon's office. I'm extremely nervous. Although I have had two surgeries before, I DO NOT like anyone messing with my mouth or throat. Getting a throat culture on me is one of the hardest things a doctor or nurse will probably ever have to do haha. I'm very, very sensetive about that region. I always have been and probably always will be.

I have been feeling OK. I end my antibiotics for my sinus infection today, although the headaches are continuing. I don't know what that is about. I have an appointment to see my doctor for a follow up. I also am seeing my rheumatologist in a couple weeks. My joints have been bothering me at night recently also. All in all, though, things are OK. Hopefully they stay that way.

Midterms...Kind Of

Well, one of the most dreaded times of the semester is upon me. Midterms. And I think they are a bit early this year...

I had a history paper due at 11:59 last night which took me forever to write. I have seriously never had such a hard time with a paper before. I hope I got a good mark on it! I also had a written Spanish test and a Spanish paper due. Tomorrow I have an oral exam for Spanish and an advertising test at night. Next week I have a paper for Shakespeare, a paper for World Music/Cinema and my protfolio is due for that class is due also. The week after I have an audio/visual project due for my World Music/Cinema class, a test in neuroendocrinology and another Spanish paper, test and oral exam. Whew!

My grades so far this semester have been really good so hopefully I will continue that trend. I am a bit of a perfectionist so I won't really be happy if they are not good. I also have not missed a single class yet this semester!

This weekend is a long weekend but I am not going home. My plan is to RELAX. Things have been very bust for me and it is not going to let up anytime soon in the next few weeks.

On Saturday I have a consultation with the oral surgeon to get all four of my wisdom teeth out, so I will updat about how that went.